International money transfers
Do you deal with complaints about international money transfers for a bank, money transfer specialist, remittance business, payment service, foreign exchange specialist or other financial business?
This page will give you an overview of the complaints we can help with and how we approach them.
Complaints we deal with
People come to us with complaints about different types of financial business that deal in sending money abroad, including:
- high street banks
- specialist money transfer and remittance businesses
- online payment services, and
- foreign exchange specialists.
Most of the complaints we see are about:
- charges for the service
- the exchange rate used
- the money not arriving – or being late to arrive
- unsuccessful attempts by the payer to cancel or recall the transfer.
Rules on international money transfers
When we look at complaints about international money transfers, we use the regulatory and legal standards that applied at the time of the event the customer is complaining about.
Rules on payment services users have changed over time. The person that sends the money can only complain about the firm that sent the money. The person who the money was sent to can only complain about the receiving firm.
You’ll find rules, guidance and good practice on international money transfers in:
- the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSR) for electronic payments – within the UK or to and from the European Economic Area (EEA) – particularly the provisions of Part 6 and Part 7
- Part 5 of the Electronic Money Regulations 2011(EMR)
- Consumer Duty: International payment pricing transparency – good and poor practice
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance on their approach to payment services and electronic money.
How we resolve complaints
We only look at complaints you've had an opportunity to deal with first. If the consumer is unhappy with your decision, or you don't respond to them within the time limits, they can come to us.
Each case is different, so what we require will vary. But we’ll look at the facts and evidence from both you and your customer. What we consider will usually include:
- relevant laws, rules and regulations, guidance, standards and codes of practice that were in place when the event happened, including the Consumer Duty
- any relevant terms and conditions
- evidence that the money was sent – for example, a screenshot showing when the money left the customer’s account, or details of any correspondent banks involved in the process
- any messages used for international wire transfers, such as a Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) or an MT103.
We may ask additional questions, or for specific information.
We follow the FCA’s dispute resolution rules (DISP) and will take into account how you’ve tried to sort things out.
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Usually, the payer and receiver pay the charges set by their own bank or payment service.
If your business uses an intermediary bank – like a correspondent bank – it may take its fees directly from the payment. But we’d e expect you to have made your customer aware that this may happen.
If you’ve applied charges in addition to the exchange rate, we’ll want to see that you explained these clearly to the person receiving the money. Once these charges have been agreed, we wouldn’t expect to see any more charges added.
The recipient’s bank may also charge fees when the money arrives in their account. If you’re the recipient’s bank and based in the UK, we’d want to see that you gave your customer clear information about these fees. But you don’t need the sender’s approval in advance.
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Sometimes, customers complain that the exchange rate used was not the one quoted online or in newspapers at the time of the transaction.
But publicly available rates are usually indicative and can fluctuate throughout the day. There is no single exchange rate for a currency that all banks are required to use. Each bank sets its own rates.
We’d expect you to have explained this to your customer.
Customers usually choose whether:
- the payment is converted into the required foreign currency before the transfer takes place, or
- the recipient’s bank handles the conversion when the money arrives.
If a customer has chosen the currency exchange to happen before the transfer, we’d want to see you gave them clear information about:
- the exact exchange rate used, and
- the amount that will be sent to the recipient.
Your customer may prefer the recipient’s bank to carry out the currency exchange. If so, we’d expect you to have clearly explained that the final amount in foreign currency will depend on the exchange rate at that time.
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If the complaint is about missing money, we’ll want to know whether it has been found. For example, has it bounced back or arrived at the correct account?
If the money has arrived, we’ll look at whether the customer lost out because the money went missing.
If the money is still missing, we’d expect to see that you helped your customer to get the money back. Sometimes we can help trace the funds, but we don't usually share the detailed tracking process with customers.
If we uphold a consumer's complaint, we'll tell you what you need to do to put things right. We may also ask you to compensate them for any distress or inconvenience they’ve experienced as a result of the problem.
Case studies
Exchange rates disappoint Sue and Stanley when sending money home
Felix loses thousands in international money transfer confusion
Banking and payments
Business Support Hub
Businesses and consumer advisers can contact our Business Support Hub on 020 7964 1400 for information on how we might look at a particular complaint, or for guidance on our rules and how we work.
We also work with businesses and other organisations to help prevent complaints.
